Ordnance Survey, the mapping agency, and the English Project, a charity, are appealing to the public to contribute to a directory of nicknames for places.

While the project will celebrate the richness of English language, it also has a practical purpose - to help 999 operators who can be baffled when callers use names that do not appear on official maps.

Some of the alternative names are descriptions: Manchester's Wilmslow Road is known as The Curry Mile because of its many Indian restaurants.

Others are ironic: the Festival Leisure Centre in Basildon, Essex, has been dubbed Bas Vegas. Some are simply insulting: one down-at-heel street in Southampton has been branded the Mutant Mile.

Bill Lucas, an author and trustee of the English Project, said: "We are throwing a very wide net in this national trawl for what we call Location Lingo.

"Everyone knows the big national nicknames like Pompey for Portsmouth or Auld Reekie for Edinburgh, but we are more interested in the names that are not so well-known and might be used only by a neighbourhood, a village community, a workplace, or even by an extended family or group of friends.

"Some local nicknames have been around for centuries, while others are being coined right now. But however old or new they are, we want to celebrate and record them."

The charity, based in Winchester, hopes the names will highlight the tradition of playing with the language through rhyme, resonance or irony. It is launching the gazetteer as part of celebrations for English Language Day this Wednesday.

In 2008 the charity launched a dictionary of 'Kitchen Table Lingo', homemade words used by families up and down the county, including 57 words for a television remote control.

Glen Hart, Ordnance Survey's head of research, added: "With the huge variety of place nicknames that exist we could never hope to capture them all ourselves.

"But the information from Location Lingo could prove vital. Organisations like the emergency services rely on our information when responding to 999 calls, so by having the most complete set of nicknames we could help the emergency services quickly locate the right place, and maybe even save lives.

"Such knowledge will also help improve internet searches as well as recognising the importance that such names have to local communities."

Phill Jupitus, the comedian, has already contributed to the project, reporting that Stanford-le-Hope, his hometown in Essex, is called Stanford-No-Hope by locals.

To take part, visit www.locationlingo.net from tomorrow morning and add names for neighbourhoods, towns, villages, streets, parks or landmarks.